Abstract
UNDERWATER RESEARH OF ADİLCEVAZ
Adilcevaz, located to the north of Van Lake. The earliest settlement in the town can be seen as Kümbet Höyük since the dating to the Early Bronze. With the building of Kef Castle by Rusa II in the Urartian period, the site became a critical Urartian settlement. The most important historical ruins that have survived to the present-day date back to the Beylik and Ottoman Periods.
Underwater surveys were carried out in 2019 to understand the function and distribution areas of the structures discovered by Cumali Birol and Tahsin Ceylan in 2017, and to ascertain whether these remains were linked to the Urartu Civilization.
The distribution of the underwater walls identified from sonar scans and a plan drawing was made utilizing an orthophoto. Photographing of the structures was carried out by scuba divers.
The area to the south of Adilcevaz Castle today functions as a harbour. As a result of our research in and around the harbour, it has become clear that the structures identified below water are the missing southern walls of the Outer Castle.
Keywords
Adilcevaz Castle, Underwater Archaeology, Van Lake, Sunken Castle, Urartian.